Hévíz: The Greatest Power in the House (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Maroshévíz (colloquially sometimes referred to as Hévíz) is a municipality in Transylvania with about 7,500 inhabitants (about 20% of which is Hungarian-speaking). In the historical times when the legend takes place, this area was part of the Hungarian Kingdom.

King Mátyás is a historical person, he ruled Hungary between 1458-1490. He lives on in legend as a wise and just king who often traveled the kingdom in disguise, tricking greedy nobles and helping the poor.

Here is the story:

In the case of this story, Mátyás was not traveling in disguise. Visiting the village, he asked the mayor to find him lodgings for the night - in a place with someone who has greater power than him. The mayor considered the strange request. Who in the village could be more poweful than the king? Finally, he had an idea. He took King Mátyás to a small hut at the edge of the village. There was only a small straw matress to sleep on - and the family had a newborn baby. The baby kept crying all night, and the new parents ignored the king in their hurry to soothe the baby.

Mátyás did not sleep a wink, but he had the good humor to appreciate the mayor's decision. The baby, indeed, held all the power in the house. He rewarded the mayor, and gave enough money to the young parents for a new house and a comfortable life.

(Story collected in 1964, reference from the Catalog of Hungarian Historical Legends)

Galagonyás: Sowing Salt (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Galagonyás (Glogonj in Serbian) is a village in Serbia with about 3,000 inhabitants. Before WWI, when the stories were colected, this area was a part of Hungary. The name comes from glog/galagonya (hawthorn).

The story is a silly one:

The people of Galagonyás had a plot of land that was not being used. They asked the priest for advice. What should they plant? The priest suggested they should sow salt: it was expensive and therefore valuable, and they would do well to have their own crop. So the villagers purchased bags of salt and sowed the whole plot of land with it.

After a while, the plot of land turned green. The salt was sprouting! Or rather, nettles were growing in the field. Some of the village elders waded into the field and got stung on their bare legs by the nettle. They concluded they were going to have a good strong crop of salt. Some time later a few children decided to throw the hat of the mayor's son into the field. The villagers were not sure how to get it out without trampling the precious crops. Eventually the mayor landed on a plan: he traveled into the field on the back of an ox and fished out the hat. Then he declared that a guard had to watch the plot. In order for the guard to not trample anything he was carried high on a platform... by four other people.

In the end, even this clever precaution didn't help: the nettles were all eaten up by the guard's donkeys.

(Source here)

Fun fact: the story where someone doesn't want to trample crops so he has himself carried in by four other people is something that I heard from my grandfather too. It's one of those stories that make fun of other villages...

Fényeslitke: Women vs Invaders (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Image from here

This legend tells of the time of the Tatar invasions - which is the term we use for the Mongolian invasion of 1241, and other attacks during the times of the Ottoman Empire later on. The town the events took place is Fényeslitke, a small municiplaity of about 2,200 inhabitants in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, northeastern Hungary.

Legend says that at the time when the Tatars were invading, there were no men present in the village to defend it. A brave woman named Máté Klára, who was heavily pregnant, took it upon herself to organize the defense of the town. She gathered the women, and together they lined up all the beehives at the edge of town in a field. In additionl, all of them hid pots of red paprika under their aprons, and picked up the heaviest mangles and rolling pins they had. Thus armed, they went to fight the incoming army. 

Seeing all the women, the Tatars got off their horses and approached them, hoping for an easy win (and, according to the text, they were seduced by the women's, especially Klára's, good looks). When they got close, the women threw red paprika in their eyes (a very Hungarian move). Blinded, the soldiers ran around in the field, overturning the beehives and getting stung. The women used the mangles and rolling pins to beat down any survivors.

The village was saved, and Máté Klára gave birth to twin boys the next day.

(Legend collected in Ajak, from Votyku Imre in 1954. Found in this book.)

Ecsed: A Very Strong Woman (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Image from here

Ecsed or Nagyecsed is a town of about 6,000 people in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, northeastern Hungary. In the local folklore there is a very memorable figure: that of the strong woman Csáky Julcsa.

Here is the story:

Csáky Julcsa lived around 1870; she was the daughter of a teacher. On her wedding day she ran away with her groom's best man Bába Szántó János, and lived with him for the rest of her life. He had the reputation of quite the strong and clever man (he spoke several languages) but Julcsa ruled the household anyway with an iron fist. She was quite the strong and large woman; allegedly, she easily lifted about 300 lbs of grain.

It happened once that Count Károlyi who lived nearby wanted to open up a road for his cattle so they would not have to walk through the village. He prepared to take part of everyone's plots of land along the way. Everyone was afraid of the count's power, and the 200 Austrian soldiers he mustered to take the land by force. Since Bába Szántó's land was also in the way, he went out to confront the soldiers, to show resistance. He was strong enough to yank the captain off his horse and throw him to the ground - but in the next minute the rest of the soldiers had him captured and tied up. A child who saw the whole thing ran to tell Julcsa.

Julcsa ran out after the soldiers with a big knife tucked into her boots. She stood in their way and yelled at them. She was so loud and so strong that no one dared stop her when she cut her husband free and marched him home. In the end, the cattle road was marked out in a way that it avoided their plot of land.

(Collected from Szűcs Lajos in 1954. Source in this book)

Delne: Two Dogs Make a Church (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Csíkdelne or Delne is a village in Transylvania with about 700 (mostly Hungarian-speaking székely) inhabitants. It has a lovely 15th century church dedicated to St. John. The other village involved in this legend is the neighboring Csíkcsicsó, with about 2500 people.

Here is the story:

Back in the old days multiple villages would share a church. Since Delne and Csicsó belonged to the same congregation, they were going to have to build one together - but they could not agree on where the church should be. In one village, or the other? Or between the two? Finally they decided to put it all up to luck.

They exchanged dogs. Delne sent a dog to Csicsó, and Csicsó sent another one to Delne. Then, on an appointed day, they released both dogs and declared that wherever they meet on their way back home should be the location of the new church.

However, the people of Delne had a clever idea: they treated the dog well and fed it a lot of delicious food. So when the dog was released it wasn't really in a hurry to return home. The other dog was hungry and eager to get back to Delne - so in the end the two dogs met on the edge of the village. This is why the regional church was built in Delne, and stands to this day.

(Story collected from Gál Ferenc in Csíksomlyó, in 1956. Source here)

Csíkménaság: Hoopoe Jesus (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns in and around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Image from here

Csíkménaság is a village of about 600 people in Transylvania. Before WWI, this area was a part of Hungary, and the people living in the village are Hungarian-speaking székely people. The story itself, however, was collected in the neighboring Csíkszereda, as a joking anecdote.

Here it is:

A hoopoe moved into a hollow tree in the forest by the village. The people had never seen a bird like this before, and, not knowing what it was, named it Colorful Jesus. One night, a bunch of young men decided to try and catch Colorful Jesus. They went to the tree, but forgot to bring a ladder, so instead they stood on each other's shoulders. The one at the top reached into the hollow and caught the hoopoe. Cheerfully, he yelled:

"I have it! I caught Colorful Jesus!"

To which the guy at the bottom responded:

"Let me see!" - and jumped out of his place.

Predictably, the tower collapsed. Only the top guy remained up in the tree, with his arm stuck in the hollow. To help him out of his predicament, the others began to throw their axes at him, hoping to cut off his arm.

(Collected from Kelemen István in 1955. Source here)

(Note: this tale exists in several variations about several different villages around Hungary and Transylvania. In some versions the young men simply topple, while in others they succeed at cutting off the arm - after which the guy noted "lucky I didn't ruin my pants")

(Bonus note: apparently the hoopoe is known as "Colorful Jesus" after another common folk legend, in which it betrayed Jesus to the soldiers pursuing him)

Bágy: Walnut Body Armor (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns in and around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Bágy (Bădeni) is a village in Hargita county, Romania, with about 200 inhabitants. Up until the 19th century there used to be a castle on the hill by the village, but its ruins have long been mined out for building materials. Yet, the castle still exists in legends. Here is one of them:

During a Tatar invasion in the 1640s, people fled from the neighboring villages up to the Bágy castle. However, the castle was besieged, and with that many refugees provisions were beginning to run low. Bágy and its area were known for walnut trees and fruit orchards. People used to spread out their harvest to dry in the attic of their houses.

It is said that there was a teacher from Bágy up at the castle who had a lot of children. When everyone began to starve he convinced the captain to let him out at night for food. He managed to sneak down into the village and up to the attic of his own house. He tied his shirt and pants at the ankles and wrists, and filled all his clothes with walnuts; he wanted to move fast so he didn't plan on carrying a bag. Once he was all stuffed up with walnuts, he started back up to the castle... but he was caught by a Tatar patrol. They attacked him, but when they hit him, all the walnuts made an eerie rattling sound - and the man did not go down. This made the Tatars think he was some sort of a supernatural creature. They started yelling "Djinn! Djinn!" And they ran away. The teacher got back to the castle safely with all the walnuts.

Legend says the Tatars were so scared of djinn guarding the village that they gave up the siege and left.

(Story from this book)